Luke's Story

Hannah Leitch

Adam showed me that different things were possible if I worked hard and planned for the future

I'd been in and out of care loads of times when I was younger. My mum couldn't cope with my behaviour and she wasn't dealing with loads of issues of her own.

My behaviour got so bad that my mother asked me to leave for the final time when I was just 16. I had started using drugs, getting into trouble with the police and I had a really bad attitude with people who were telling me what to do. I couldn't remember the last time I went anywhere near a school.

My social worker arranged for me to come to live at Llamau, and to be honest, I wasn't happy. I didn't think it would be any different form being in care.

Adam, my support worker at Llamau, was amazing. He seemed to understand straight away that I really needed the space to deal with how I was feeling, and I started to talk about why I was feeling so angry all the time. I just needed someone to listen to me and understand why I'd been behaving the way I had.

I made the decision to see my old friends less and less and work on doing things better. I started to go to Learning 4 Life and I was able to do a week's work taster session at GE Aviation which I really enjoyed. I'm working full-time at a job caring for other people in the community now. Llamau have been a massive help, showing me how to budget properly and sorting out my benefits. I've moved into my own flat and I'm doing really well.

I can't believe the support Adam's given me over the past few years. He really showed me that different things were possible if I worked hard and planned for the future.